Misha the Beast Tamer.
Chapter 12

We woke early the following morning, the trip would only take around three hours by carriage. We'd arrive at 8 in the morning, this meant we'd have all day to track this beast. I was curious about the beast responsible for the death of a toddler, was it a wolf, ordinary beast or was it a beast of fairy tales. I was very....curious.

The carriage ride was awkward, Aqila stayed by my side and didn't even acknowledge Erik. I tried to encourage small talk, but was unsuccessful. Erik was engrossed in a book and Aqila was silent, looking out the window, and glancing cautiously every now and than at Erik. I couldn't wait for the carriage ride to end.

I let out a sigh of relief as the carriage halted at the front of a wooden cabin, the cabin was a little back from the road and was mostly surrounded by overgrown trees and long grass. Erik clapped his book shut and smiled,

"We're here, get your things and wait by the entrance to the cabin. Ill introduce you to Todd."

I smiled in return, and happily exited the carriage. Aqila, slowly exited the carriage and shot Erik a warning look, her eyes narrowed and she very obviously patted the sword around her waist. Erik sighed, waited for Aqila to get off and followed closely behind her.

Erik knocked on the solid wooden door of the cabin and a man around Erik's age answered. He had a neatly trimmed beard, well-built, not as attractive as Erik, but still a handsome man. He flashed us a welcoming smile,

"Welcome to my home. You girls can have my bed over night, while Erik and myself will sleep on the floor. Don't worry, the blanket's are clean, the mattress has been freshly stuffed as of yesterday. You can put your belongings in the corner. When you've done that we'll get down to business." Todd showed us his bedroom and left us to stack our belongings.

After we'd finished, we found Erik and Todd happily chattering away at the side of the cabin, sitting on a couple of tree stumps. They noticed us and motioned for us to join them.

"Are you ready girl's?" Todd questioned enthusiastically. We both nodded in reply.

"Well, before we go I'll tell you what I know. The beast lives in the forest just behind us. It generally keeps out of sight. There's many places in the forest which the beast could live. He ventures into the village which is about a 4 hour walk from here and hunts for food, which does include children and babies. They're his favourite delicacy.

Once he captures a child he takes it back into the forest, where the child is never seen again. I've only managed to track it to a very dense part of the forest, it is near impossible to get through. The footprints Ive found are human in appearance, but the depth of the footprints and the gap between them indicates that the beast is tall and big in build much larger than the average human, not saying that the beast isn't human, but it's very unlikely that it is.

So what do you girl's think could be the culprit?"

Todd looked over to me then to Aqila waiting for us to reply.

" We'll need to see the tracks to determine what the beast is." Aqila replied, professionally.

I looked over to Erik for a hint and reassurance. He smiled and motioned for me to answer, he wasn't going to give me anything.

"I agree with Aqila, Todd. I'd like to see these prints then determine the type of beast we are tracking." I replied.

Todd shook his head, sighed and replied,

"Well, lets go to the location of the prints I found and check for fresh ones. Come along." He started walking away from us and motioned for us to follow with a wave of his hand.

We followed, it didn't take long for Erik to match pace with me. He had his hands behind his back and in an amused tone, he said

"Misha, why did you look towards me for an answer and reassurance? You're intelligent and could've answered the question without me."

He opened his mouth and was about to say more, but Aqila saw him hanging around me, ran back, and put herself in between us, while narrowing her eyes at him. He sighed and left me with Aqila and joined Todd ahead of us. Once he left me, she smiled, satisfied that she had somehow saved me from danger. But I was not in danger.

We wound our way through the forest, the dense floor cover of leaves and sticks crunched under our feet. Birds flew between the rich green canopy of trees and their calls echoed around us. The further we ventured into the forest, the quieter and darker it became. We came to a sudden stop, I saw Erik and Todd studying something on the ground, I joined them and Aqila joined me. I was surprised at how big the footprint was, Todd was not overestimating the size. While the print had five toes and looked exactly like a humans but at the size it was, this footprint definitely belonged to a beast.

"It belongs to a beast, Todd." I stated,

Todd nodded in agreement,

"What beast do you think is the murderer, Princess?"

I racked my brain, I had three possibilities in mind,

" In my opinion the murderer is either; a giant, an Ogre, or a human that is abnormally large in height and stature."

I replied,

"Hmmm! What do you think Aqila?" Todd asked.

"It is not a giant. I agree with the Princess on the other suggestions though. It's either an Ogre or an abnormally large human."

Aqila said. Todd looked towards Erik.

"It's an Ogre. It has a taste for human flesh, especially Children. The footprints do match those of an Ogre. As they are tall, and very heavy. They are Intelligent, and do like to live in dense forests. They also live near swamps as well. They are relatively easy to kill, but don't underestimate them. They're very strong and do carry weapons that compliment their strength.

"So how are we going to trap it?" I questioned them.

They looked at each other, then to me, and back to themselves. There was a flurry of whispers and serious looks upon their faces.

Aqila stood beside me and whispered in my ear,

"What do you think they're planning?"

"Nothing good, I assure you." I replied.

We both waited patiently for them to finish. They addressed us,

"We've got a plan....but Princesss, you're not going to like it. We're going to use you as bait. Ogre's do like to feast on children and infants, but they can also be greedy creatures, just like humans.

If the Ogre is aware that there is a Princess staying in the village, he'd want a piece of that pie. Some Ogres are known to kidnap royalty, especially Princesses and asking for gold as ransom, if they are not paid they'll kill the Princesses or sometimes they may marry the princess they've kidnapped. As humans are individuals so are Ogre's. What they do is up to the individual Ogre."

I was speechless and not too fond of the idea of being bait.

"What do you plan to do once I'm kidnapped? Are you going to save me Erik...Todd? Or leave me, if the trap doesn't work?"

Erik reassured me that I would not become Ogre food or an Ogre bride.

"Firstly, we need to spread the word that a Princess is staying at the local inn. Todd and Aqila will go into town ahead of us, to spread the word. They'd be spreading it at taverns, the village marketplace, to anyone who will listen. We'll give them a day and a night to spread the word. They'll be staying at the same Inn as us. We will the travel into town and we'll meet them there the day after tomorrow."

My face warmed at the idea of having to spend a night and a day alone with Erik in a cabin. It was really bad to have such a crush on an older man and a teacher as well. But what teenager has never crushed on a teacher?